Tuesday, December 13, 2011

MT,
as he is called is a path-breaking fiction writer who wrote about
changes in Kerala society as it evolved from older matrilineal forms. He and Mukundan both hailed from modest rural families and had to go to great
lengths to satisfy their thirst for literature.

M.T. Vasudevan Nair autographs a book

There
was no TV, no radio, etc said Mukundan so only reading was
available. MT spoke of how difficult it was to get published. When
the poet Vallathol asked money for lunch at an appearance, they made
fun of him: “A poet, and he asks for money?”

KumKum enjoyed

A
writer in those days had to write about society, not himself, or
psychological ruminations on a character. In those days the Form vs.
Content argument was won by Content.

KumKum and Talitha relaxing

Mukundan
said he read Maupassant for the drama in his short stories, and
Chekhov for his novels filled with mystery and a problem to be
solved.

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1.
M.T. Vasudevan Nair and Mukundan in conversation

MT,
as he is called is a path-breaking fiction writer who wrote about
changes in Kerala society as it evolved from older matrilineal forms.
He was also an influential editor who got many writers published for
the first time, including the interviewer, Mukundan. He had to
travel several miles to go to school from his village. The library
did not have any interesting books but MT was fascinated by reading.
In those days if a boy could read Ezhuthachan's Ramayana without
blundering too much he was considered educated, just as a a boy was
considered competent for farming if he prevented the buffaloes from
nibbling at the paddy. He borrowed books from a neighbouring person.
Since poetry was a game you could play alone, MT would wonder, and
think and write.

There
was not TV, no radio, etc said Mukundan so only reading was
available. But shortage of kerosene in post-war days meant there was
little time at night. He would ask to be allowed to read a little
more Dostoevsky in semi-darkness of a hurricane lantern, and his
mother would allow him, and he would fall asleep reading. Mukundan
said most writers do not read, but MT is the best-read writer he
knows.

MT
spoke of how difficult it was to get published. Even if you had
talent, it was hard even to get an education and he gave the example
of a boy who could not afford even the Rs. 2 fees in college. Senior
writers like Basheer published their own books and went around
peddling them in campuses. Then there was censorship to contend with.
The tough-guy CP Ramaswamy Iyer banned his book, Premalehana.
Similarly, Basheer to had to contend with many difficulties. MT
recalls he would be sent to fetch the short stories of a writer
appearing in the Mathrubhumi paper. Sometimes he would have to copy
out portions of the Ramayana and return it. When the poet Vallathol
asked money for lunch at an appearance, they made fun of hi: “A
poet, and he asks for money?”

Mukundan
recounted the near uselessness of money in those days when there was
nothing to spend it on in the villages. Now there are mobile phones,
TVs, cars, etc Poets cooked their own meals, and there's a photo he
remembers of MT, Basheer and all with the latter cooking fish curry.

A
writer in those days had to write about society, not himself, or
psychological ruminations on a character. In those days the Form vs.
Content argument was won by Content. It was MT's role to bring out
the importance of Form. If modernity of a kind flowed into Malayalam,
it was on account of MT. MT chimed in that writers wrote about
problems in society and wanted t make strong statements, e.g., land
for tillers. Later they took on psychology. Change will happen in
language over time, and the style will change too.

Tharoor
mentioned his cousins reading Camus, Sartre, and so on in Malayalam,
and asked if world literature made an impact. MT replied that he had
red Latin American literature in English, but once he started writing
all tat was in the background. “The nature around and the people
were waiting to meet me in the novels.” Alas, the nature has been
lost to an extent. If I have painful experiences I want to share,
then it is through the novels others can share it.

Mukundan
said he read Maupassant for the drama in his short stories, and
Chekhov for his novels filled with mystery and a problem to be
solved. When he went to Paris and saw Picasso's cubist painting he
was inspired to write stories in which he could write as Picasso
painted, with several layers from different angles. He concluded by
saying Malayalees are open to ideas, and that's why Marx came to
Kerala before other places in India. “But we have to keep rooted,
otherwise we'll float away,” he said at the end.

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Management - Learning from Experiences by Reflection
at
2:05 PM

1 comment:

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